Machine foe



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

JOHN WAUGH, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHEET METAL.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,027, dated April 24, 1860.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN TWAUGH, of Elmira, in the county of Chemung andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMachines for Cutting Sheet Tin and other Sheet Metals; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a partofthis specification.

On the bed-plate A, Figure l, is bolted, or otherwise firmly secured,the shears-head, B, having its rotary disk-shears, o, 7), shafts, c, CZ,gearing, e, f, and winch, g, hung and arranged as delineated. Thepressure with which these shears are made to contract at their cuttingpoint, is regulated by the set screw, L, -working in the standard, z',and against the center of the disk, b.

' The way, C, having the groove or channel, K, cut through its length ispermanently attached to the bed-plate, with one of its ends near to theshear-head, being so disposed, that a vertical plane passing through thecutting point of the shears, would cut the bottom surface of the groove,in a line running longitudinally along its middle, and parallel to thesides of the bed-plate. This groove is the means of combining,severally, the sheet-head, Fig. 2, and the rotary clamphead Fig. 3 withthe shears-head, according as it may be required to cut sheets, segmentsof circles, strips or bevels; or to Cut circular sheets, respectively.But l; do not limit myself to using the connecting groove in a separatebut attachable piece, for such a groove may be made in the bed-plate Awhen this has received the proper modification to allow of the groovebeing disposed in the manner just indicated for the way, C.

The sheet-head carriage, D, F ig. l, is formed of two cheek.`| or sidepieces, m, a, joined to the flanged lease-rail, Z, so as to be atrightangles to it, and therefore parallel to each other. On the inner side ofeach cheek a groove is cut at the vsanne height above the base-rail, andparallel to the bedplate A, as shown at 0, 22. The base-rail is madeconformable to, and freely movable,

' but without shake, within the groove K; so

that by simply inserting it into this groove, the sheet-head whenattached to this car riage, canbe readily combined with the shears-head;and as readily disconnected from said head by withdrawing this rail fromthe groove.

Fig. 2, is a perspective view of my improved sheet-head, in detail, E,being the table on which the sheets are firmly held by the clamp, 2,hinged at the eyes (3) and actuated by the springs i The end pieces (5)each carrying three perforated lugs (6), rise sufliciently above theplane of the table to form the narrow ledges, (7, 7) (8, 8),-it beingagainst the latter that the sheets are abutted, when necessary. Theseledges are truly squared to the sides (7, 8), which are themselvesparallel to each other, that near the clamp being beveled from the underto the upper surface of the table as shown at 9. The gage rods, r, whichmay be graduated into inches and parts, are carried by the perforatedlugs, and in which they are retained by the set screws, The gage plateformedof fiat plate, t', permanently fixed on a connecting bar, u, canbe attached to these rods, by inserting on the holes made in them forthe purpose, the pins (X) with which the ends of the connect-ing bar arefurnished. The tongued rails (o) serve to connect the sheethead with itscarriage, and to operate it with the shears-head.

The rotary clamp-head, Fig. 3, is of very simple construction. The clampis formed by two circular plates, a, Z9, the free end of the stem ofplate, a, terminating in a pivot, at a short distance above a narrowgroove worked around the stem. After being passed through its guide, e,this stem is engaged at the groove, by the forked end of a spring, (Z,secured by the other end to the upper part of the clamp-head, thetension of the spring always keeping the pivot in contact with thecavity made for it in the lower end of the hand screw, e, whether thescrew itself be run upv or down. The stem of the clamp plate, likewiseterminates in a pivot, which is supported by a step on the base-rail, Bydepressing the screw, the clamp plate, a, can be brought into Contactwith the plate, Z), but both plates may be easily rotated about theircommon axis.

The anged base rail, f, which sustains the clamp, and other parts of theclamphead, is like the base-rail, Z, Fig. l, adapted by form anddimension, to the groove, 7c, of

the piece C, same figure; and consequently, to combine easily andreadily the clamphead with the shear-head, in a way similar to thatalready described for combining the sheet and shears-heads, by means ofthe said groove. The bent rod, g, Fig. 3 is intended to regulate theposition of the sheet in the clamp when to be cut to a given diameter,being secured to its place by the set screw, z.. The lever, z', may beused in conjunction with the set screw, g, Fig. l, to give theclamp-head greater steadiness; and a similar lever can be employed forthe same purpose, on the carriage, D.

To cut circular plates, or sheets, the clamphead Fig. 3, is connectedwith the shearshead by inserting its base rail, f, into the groove, K,Fig. 1, the sheet to be cut being adjusted between the clamp plates, byeye, or by the gage rod, g, Fig. 3, and clamped by means of the screw,e. The clamp-head is then brought up properly to the shears and fixed inthis position by the lever, z', Fig. 3, or by the set screw g Fig. l, orby both, and the sheet rotated against the shears with one hand whilethe winch, g, Fig. l, is turned by the other. Parts of a circle may becut on sheets by a similar operation.

To square, size and cut metallic sheets, to cut strips, bevels, &c.,8:0., the sheet head `must be used in the following manner,

premising, however, that it may be attached to its carriage eitherbefore or after this shall be placed on the bed-plate; and, that ineither case, the attachment is made by inserting the tongues of therails (o) Fig. 2, of the sheet-head, into the grooves, o, 79, Fig. 1, ofthe carriage, and in such manner that the clamping side of the head willbe next to the rotary shears. The rail f, Fig. 1, having been introducedinto the groove, K, the carriage is moved toward the shearshead till itabuts against and engages the head of the screw, 7L, by means of thecavity, r, made in the cheek, m, wher-etc it is secured by clamping withthe set screw, g,- thus attaining the requisite position and stabilityfor the proper working of its sheet head. The sheet head being now, sofar drawn out, that the metallic sheet to be squared, could not touchthe shears,-the clamp, 2, Fig. 2, is raised, and the sheet placed on thetable, E, with one of its edges, or sides as they are sometimes termed,in close contact with the ledge, 8, 8, Fig. 2,- the edge to be removed,projecting beyond the side of the table toward the shears; but only sofar however, that the cutting may be done with the leastl possible wasteof metal. The clamp, being released, and confining the sheet to thetable at every point near the line of cutting,-the sheethead is steadilytoward the shears which are at the -same time being rotated; and thesheet is cut, having a new edge square to that in contact with the ledge8, 8. Other oblique sides of the sheet are removed in the same manner.

To cut a squared sheet into strips of a given breadth, vthe sheet withthis breadth marked on its off-edge, must be clamped on the table sothat its near edge may be in close contact with the ledge 8, 8, the edgetoward the shears lying near or along the beveled side of the table (9).The sheethead is then pushed into its carriage until the cutting pointof the shears is in line with the off-edge of the metallic sheet, when,the clamp being raised, the sheet is pushed to the right-hand till thebreadth-mark on said off-edge reaches the cutting point of the shears,its near edge, being kept during the motion of the sheet in closecontact with said ledge, and then clamped in this position. Thegage-rods, r, are now drawn out so that their ends project a littlebeyond the shears, when the gage-plate is passed between the shafts, e,d, Fig. 1, and its pins, a, Fig. 2, inserted into the end pin holes ofthe rods. The plate, t, being brought up evenly against the projectingedge of the sheet, the rods are clamped by the screws, s, the gage plateis adjusted for the given breadth, and the strip is cut from the sheetby pushing the sheet against the rotary shears, as in the case ofsquaring. This single adjustment will serve to out any number of sheetsrapidly, into strips of the same gage, all that is necessary for this,after cutting off the first strip being to draw back the sheet-head,unclamp the sheet,

push it with the new edge against the gageplate, clamp and cut offstrip, repeating this series of operations as long as the sheetmetallasts.

If the gage-rods were graduated, the cutting point of the shears mightbe taken as a starting point, beyond which the end pin holes of the rodscould be pushed, till the divisions marked on the rods and coincidingwith the said starting point should be equal to the width of striprequired. The rods could then be clamped, the gage-plate applied, andthe cutting of strips effected as before. Segments of circles, also, maybe rapidly out from circular sheets by adjusting the gage-plate to therequired width of segment, and proceeding as in the cutting of strips.

Vhen it is required to cut sheets into halves, or to cut very widestrips, it will be found preferable to apply the gage-plate close to theleft side 7, 8, Fig. 2, of the sheethead, and to bind it there byclamping the gage-rods, with which it must be connected. The sheethowever must first be squared, by resting it on the top edge of thegageplate, bringing its near-side edge against the ledge, 8, 8, clampingthe end to be sans# squared, in the manner already pointed out forsquaring sheets, and then cutting. The sheet is now turned over, the newedge is pushed close against the gage plate (without however confiningthe near side of the sheet to the ledge 8, 8,), then clamped and cut.But this inode of gaging can be used, only when the distance of the leftside of the table, from the cutting point is equal to that of thecutting point from the inner surface of the back of the shears-headframe. Vhen, however, the former distance is the greater, the gage-plateconnected with the rods, may be fixed on the surface of the tableparallel to, and at such a distance from the side of the table, that thecutting point of the shears shall be midway it and said surface. Lastly,for very broad strips, the gage plate, 'connected with the rods, may befixed onv the table parallel to the sides thereof, at a distance fromthe cutting point equal to the given width of strip; and sheets,previously squared, abutted against it and cut into strips as before.

To cut bevels, the sheet-head is pushed forward till the ledge 8, 8,lines with the cutting point of the shears. or as close to this as thenear gage rod, when drawn out, will permit. The gage rods are then drawnout toward the shears, the near rod first so much so, as that the nearend of the gageplate, t, Fig. 2 will nearly, but not quite touch theshears, if said gage were arranged in the desired line of bevel; and theoff-rod suiiciently beyond the shears, to allow of connection with thegage plate, so arranged. The rods are then set by the screws, s, Fig. 2,the gage-plate passed between the shafts e, (Z, Fig. l, and attached tothe rods by means of its pins. The relative positions of rods and gage,when arranged for bevels is shown, generally, in Fig. 2. The sheet--headis now drawn back again, the sheet to be cut into bevels, being placedon the table, E, is pushed toward the gage till its projecting edgecontacts at every point with the plate, t, with its near angular pointcoincident with the near end of said plate, and then clamped. The firstbevel being cut away and the sheet-head drawn back, the sheet is turnedover on the table, with the newly cut edge toward the shears, arrangedin reference to the gageplate as at first, and again cut. By observingto turn the sheet after cutting away a bevel, the sheet will be cut intobevels of the size, and figure, and, without any waste.

It must be particularly observed, that when the length of the back orextension bar, u, of the gage-plate, does not exceed that of thesheet-head, it is only by the spring of the off rod, r, Fig. 2, that thegage-plate can be connected with it, in the manner just described forcutting bevels; and, that consequently the pieces cut from the sheetwill-have but a limited bevel. To cut the pieces with a bevel exceedingthis limit, it is required that the bar, ushould have its off-endlengthened out, so that it may be easily connected with the off-rod, forthe greatest bevels ordinarily required', and this without springingthis rod, and also to adapt a sliding and adjustable, instead of afixed, pin to work on this longer end, somewhat after the manner of thesliding leg of a beam compass. The gage-plate constructed with such abar and pin, will then be applicable to the gaging of any of the usualbevels.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my improvementson machines for cuttingv sheet tin, and other sheet metals, I will nowbriefly notice some results that are obtained by their use, via-that bymy clamping of the metallic sheet near to and along the whole extent ofthe line to be cut, a straight-line cut is insured, instead of thewaveline cut which so frequently attends the old manner of clamping;that by the use of my sheet-head, and its gage-plate, gage-rods andcarriage in combination with the rotary shears head, a sheet can besquared, or can be sized and cut at one handling; that after making buta single adjustment proper for the particular case, and which consumesbut very little time, sheets can be cut, without waste, into halves,strips, and bevels, respectively uniform in figure and size, with arapidity that has never till now been attained; and finally, that byusing my simple means of combination, I can replace the sheet-head bythe rotary clamp head as constructed for this end, and thereby use thesame rotary shears-head'for cutting circular sheets that is used with mysheethead for squaring sheets, and cutting strips, bevels and segments.

The machine for cutting sheet-metal, embodying these, my improvements,will consequently produce its effects in a cheaper, more expeditious,andwith regard to the accuracy and identity of those of the sameclass-in a far more reliable and better manner, than can be done by anysingle machine hitherto contrived for the same purposes. Besides this,its simplicity and compactness, reduces the cost of construction somuch, that it can be afforded at a price that will be wit-hin the meansof every worker in sheet metal.

I am aware that rotary shears have been used for cutting sheet metal;and that rotary clamps, also, have been employed in cutting circularsheets, and therefore, l do not claim them; but

lVhat I do claim as my invention', and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

l. The sheet-head, Fig. 2, composed of the table E, with its tonguedrails (o) and pieces (5), carrying the perforated lugs (6); the gagerods (1), the clamp 2, with its springs B-When they are arranged asherein described.

Witnesses:

R. S. RANsoM S. B. BENTON.

JOHN WAUGH.

